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Tag: YouTube

  • YouTube’s weaker than expected Q2 performance hurts Google parent Alphabet

    YouTube’s weaker than expected Q2 performance hurts Google parent Alphabet

    A 13% year-over-year increase in revenue from YouTube ads during the second quarter of 2024 and a 13.8% annual increase in revenue from Google Search ads helped lead Alphabet subsidiary Google to report an 11% annual gain in advertising for Q2 of 2024. Google Search ad revenue rose from $42.63 billion to $48.51 billion year-over-year and YouTube ad revenue amounted to $8.66 billion up from the $7.67 billion that was generated during the same quarter last year.
    Google said that for the three months ended in June 2024, total Google advertising revenue came to $64.62 billion compared to the $58.14 billion in advertising revenue that came into Google’s coffers during the second quarter of 2023. Traffic acquisition costs rose 6.8% to $13.39 billion which was well worth it to Google thanks to the aforementioned 11% annual hike in Q2 advertising revenue.
    “Our strong performance this quarter highlights ongoing strength in Search and momentum in Cloud. We are innovating at every layer of the AI stack. Our longstanding infrastructure leadership and in-house research teams position us well as technology evolves and as we pursue the many opportunities ahead.”-Sundar Pichai, CEO of Alphabet, Google
    The business unit which includes Pixel devices, Google subscriptions, platforms, and devices, saw top-line growth of 14.4% to $9.31 billion from $8.14 billion. That could indicate growing demand for Pixel phones, tablets, smartwatches, and earbuds. Google’s Cloud business was very strong with the top-line rising 28.8% to $10.35 billion compared to the $8.03 billion that this business generated during the same quarter last year. This was the first time that Google’s Cloud business topped $10 billion in revenue and $1 billion in operating profit during a single quarter.
    Alphabet’s total revenue of $84.74 billion during the second quarter was up from the $74.60 billion reported during the 2023 second quarter. This was a 13.6% increase and helped Alphabet report a 28.6% gain in net income to $23.62 billion for the second quarter of 2024. During the same quarter last year, Alphabet had net income of $18.37 billion. Diluted earnings per share, which assumes the conversion to equity of all convertible debt, was reported by Alphabet to be $1.89 for  Q2 of 2024, up 31.3% from the $1.44 reported for the same quarter in 2023.
    “We delivered revenues of $85 billion, up 14% year-on-year driven by Search as well as Cloud, which for the first time exceeded $10 billion in quarterly revenues and $1 billion in operating profit. As we invest to support our highest growth opportunities, we remain committed to creating investment capacity with our ongoing work to re-engineer our cost base durably”-Ruth Porat, Alphabet president, chief investment officer
    The report did not sit well with Alphabet investors; the shares rose 12 cents during the regular trading session to $181.79 but plunged $3.96 or 2.18% to $177.83 in after-hours trading after the earnings were released. While Alphabet’s earnings and revenue were higher than expected, YouTube’s performance disappointed investors, explaining the subsequent stock sell-off during the extra trading session.
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  • YouTube’s latest experiment adds Shorts to Smart Downloads

    YouTube’s latest experiment adds Shorts to Smart Downloads

    YouTube Premium users are now able to automatically download recommended Shorts for offline viewing through a limited-time experiment. The feature, called “Smart Downloads” has been around for some time for regular long-form videos. Now, it is also available for Shorts.

    The feature is currently being tested with YouTube Premium users and allows them to download recommended Shorts to their devices automatically. Users can enable the feature by going to the Your Premium benefits section in the YouTube app and selecting the Try experimental new features option. Once enabled, the feature will automatically download recommended Shorts based on the user’s recent viewing history.

    It’s important to note that currently you can only have one YouTube Experiment active at a time. For example, I currently have the YouTube Redesigned Watch Page experiment active until July 8th, which means that me signing up to try out the new Smart Downloads for Shorts would automatically remove me from the other experiment.

    This new feature appears to have been available to some users as early as April, but it has now been rolled out to a wider audience. YouTube Premium members can try out the feature until July 15.

    Smart Downloads has been available for regular YouTube videos for some time, and it allows users to automatically download recommended videos for offline viewing. The feature is designed to help users save data and watch videos when they don’t have an internet connection.

    YouTube is constantly experimenting with new features and ways to improve the user experience. Smart Downloads for Shorts is just one of the many new features that the company is testing, and whether it becomes a permanent feature or not likely depends on user feedback. This means that if you are interested in having a feature like this available for Shorts, make sure to sign up for it to make it known to the powers that it’s worth keeping.

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  • YouTube Music promises Podcasts will get better on the platform

    YouTube Music promises Podcasts will get better on the platform

    Google Podcasts is officially dead. That has been the case for a week now, and the designated replacement – YouTube Music – is just not cutting it yet. The YouTube Music podcasting experience is rough, and users aren’t holding back on the feedback.

    Thankfully, the YouTube Music Podcasts team seems to be listening. They took to Reddit to let us know they hear us and are “working on a lot more improvements,” but also shared a short list of things that have already been achieved for podcasts, such as:

    • Sorting options: You can now sort a podcast’s episodes from newest to oldest, oldest to newest, most popular, or default. It’s pretty puzzling that this wasn’t a day-one feature, though.
    • International love: Non-US users now get podcasts on their Home feed, including the new “Recommended shows” shelf that is already available to U.S. users, making new episode discovery a lot easier.
    • Search Tweaks: Improved search results, making it easier to find the podcasts you actually want.

    These tweaks are a start, but it’s shocking these weren’t ready before Google Podcasts was sunsetted. YouTube Music is currently missing core features that even casual podcast fans are going to notice.

    Many of the suggestions on that Reddit thread involve basic stuff that is still frustratingly absent. Having features like being able to search for an episode within a subscription, chapter navigation, and being able to mark episodes as played are some of the top ones.

    Even though the transition from Google Podcasts to YouTube Music was just officially announced last year, we’ve known for quite some time that was the plan all along. Considering that timeline, it is a wonder why so many features that were previously on Google Podcasts have yet to be ported to its replacement.

    Hopefully, Google takes the user feedback to heart and begin to implement these improvements as soon as possible. As users were left without an alternative, many could opt to flee to other platforms like Pocket Casts or Spotify, so it is of major importance that the experience be fixed expeditiously.

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  • YouTube reveals new design for its TV app

    YouTube reveals new design for its TV app

    YouTube has just announced a new design for its TV app that will be rolled out to all users over the next few weeks. The new design is supposed to bring familiar YouTube features and interactivity to the living room while maintaining the same experience that fans of the service know and love.

    The main change is the reduced size of the video player, which is meant to simplify interactions. In addition to the visual changes, the new design will include a broad range of new experiences such as shopping and viewing live scores, as well as improvements to existing functionality like accessing video descriptions and comments.

    Before deciding what to actually change and what to keep in the new design, YouTube tapped into user feedback provided by long-time users, and here what the service learned:

    • The new design works for features that require equal or more attention than the video itself (e.g. comments, description, live chat) but obscuring the video would be detrimental to the viewing experience.
    • We need to continue to prioritize simplicity over the introduction of additional lightweight controls.
    • A one size fits all solution may not be the best approach, as features such as live chat and video description benefit from different levels of immersion.

    The end result “keeps the video front and center, but layers in the ability to access the features that make YouTube unique – all without interrupting the viewing experience.

    The bottom line is the new experience focuses on the ability to read through comments and video description while still having the video player in front of your eyes. It’s an interesting concept that will allow YouTube TV subscribers to explore Views without disrupting what they’re watching.

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  • YouTube may have removed the iMessage mini-app for iOS devices

    YouTube may have removed the iMessage mini-app for iOS devices

    It appears that YouTube might have removed the iMessage mini-app that allows iPhone and iPad users to send videos directly from chat without leaving the Messages app.

    The latest YouTube app update released earlier this week mentions changes like improved performance and bug fixes, but it may have also removed the iMessage mini-app.

    The folks at 9to5mac confirm that the iMessage mini-app for iPhone and iPad is no longer available after the latest YouTube update, but at this time it’s impossible to tell whether or not this is something temporary.

    It’s been nearly seven years since the iMessage mini-app has been added to YouTube. Unfortunately, it never became popular among iOS users, even though the app allowed them not just to send YouTube videos directly from the chat without leaving the Message app, but they could also watch videos using the native YouTube app.

    Let us know in the comments if the feature disappears for you after updating the YouTube app to version 19.01.1. Although it might be hard to guess YouTube’s plans about the iMessage mini-app without an official statement.

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  • YouTube is really serious about podcasts, launches new tool for creators

    YouTube is really serious about podcasts, launches new tool for creators

    Podcasts have become the new golden goose for many streaming services. Spotify, Apple, Google, and many other companies are trying to implement podcasts into their services and attract as many, preferably popular, creators.

    YouTube is one of the services that has already been pushing podcasts to its consumers as much as possible. To make it easier for creators to reach bigger audiences, YouTube is now rolling out a new feature that will allow podcast creators to upload episodes directly from their RSS feeds.

    To start publishing podcasts from an RSS feed, you first need to connect your RSS feed to YouTube. The procedure is simple and requires a few steps described in a guide published by Google on YouTube’s support page:

    • In YouTube Studio, click Create / New podcast / Submit RSS feed.
    • Read and accept the RSS Ingestion Tool Terms of Service.
    • Read the instructions on screen and click Next.
    • Enter your RSS feed URL and click Next.
    • Click Send code to verify your account.
    • Enter the verification code sent to the email address on your RSS feed and click Verify. If you don’t know the email on your RSS feed, contact your hosting provider.
    • Choose which episodes you want to upload to your podcast on YouTube and click Next. You can choose to upload: All existing episodes; Episodes published since a specific date; Only future episodes.
    • Review visibility details and click Save.

    To publish a feed, simply head to Content / Podcasts in YouTube Studio, and under “Video count” you’ll find the Publish button next to your podcast feed. The button only appears when podcast episodes have finished uploading.

    The tool allows creators to re-upload an episode, edit podcast details, as well as disconnect an RSS feed from their YouTube podcast.

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  • YouTube will now show you the number of views and likes a video has in real-time

    YouTube will now show you the number of views and likes a video has in real-time

    Google is changing the “likes” and “views” counters on YouTube to refresh automatically when a video is viewed. Currently, if you’re watching a video on the platform, the number of likes and views won’t change while viewing the clip. But with this update, those two metrics will rise and show a cool animation of a rolling number counter whether the video is being played or is paused. And the animation will be played even if you switch to another app and return to YouTube.

    Android Police came across this new behavior on YouTube. They couldn’t find any reference to it except for a post on Reddit from back in October from user nonotan who wrote, “I’m watching a video, and I keep getting distracted by an animation where the view counter is rolling over to a new number as if it were a physical click counter. I have not seen this behavior before today, and I’d like to disable it.”

    The same Redditor was so bothered by the effect that he added the following line to his filters, which stopped the animation and the count from advancing in real-time: https://www.youtube.com/youtubei/v1/updated_metadata*.

    Others also had similar posts about the feature, such as Reddit user Reyh, who said, “Distracting indeed and IMHO not beneficial at all. I saw it on Tuesday for the first time, using Firefox. The first few times I only noticed some movement at the bottom left of the videos. I wondered if it was in the video itself. Then I observed the area for a while and saw the new counter animation.”

    It seems that this feature is being tested with the help of a minimal number of YouTube users globally. Those who see the feature will notice the number of views and the number of likes rolling up on the screen to a higher number while they are viewing the video. Google calls this progress and for some of you, it may be.

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  • YouTube Music rolls out new AI playlist art generator feature

    YouTube Music rolls out new AI playlist art generator feature

    YouTube Music has made significant strides recently in its efforts to compete with the likes of Spotify and Apple Music to become your de facto music app. In an effort to communicate to its users all the recent changes the app has gone through, Google took to its official YouTube Blog today to share the list.

    Amongst all the features that have been either slowly or quickly rolled out throughout the year, there was one standout feature listed that begins to roll out today: the ability to create customized covert art for your playlists with the assistance of AI. This feature is reminiscent of the AI wallpapers Google recently rolled out on Android 14 works by using a pre-determined data set to generate unique artwork. Currently, when a playlist is created on YouTube Music, a collage of the cover art from the first few songs on the playlist automatically became the cover.

    YouTube Music has made significant strides recently in its efforts to compete with the likes of Spotify and Apple Music to become your de facto music app. In an effort to communicate to its users all the recent changes the app has gone through, Google took to its official YouTube Blog today to share the list.

    Amongst all the features that have been either slowly or quickly rolled out throughout the year, there was one standout feature listed that begins to roll out today: the ability to create customized covert art for your playlists with the assistance of AI. This feature is reminiscent of the AI wallpapers Google recently rolled out on Android 14 works by using a pre-determined data set to generate unique artwork. Currently, when a playlist is created on YouTube Music, a collage of the cover art from the first few songs on the playlist automatically became the cover.

    The feature will began its rollout today as an experimental feature, but only for English-language U.S. users. It will be pretty straightforward to use, as it will provide you with a variety of themes and options to create a one-of-a-kind cover for your playlists. YouTube Music eventually plans to expand the feature to other regions and languages in the future.

    In addition, YouTube Music will also be launching a new feature called “Speed dial,” which will make it easier to listen to your favorite songs and artists. It will appear on the Home tab as a section at the top that will show your most listened-to music. Having this section will allow you to easily and quickly jump back into the songs you have on repeat.

    YouTube Music has also introduced many helpful features throughout the year. YouTube says that two billion people come to the platform every month to listen to their favorite music, so it’s a tall order to implement features that fit everyone’s tastes and needs.

    However, features that improve discovery of new music, personalization, and the sense of community, are always a welcome addition. Here’s hoping the generative AI playlist artwork feature rolls out quickly for everyone so we can all customize our music experience even further.

    The feature will began its roll out today as an experimental feature, but only for English language U.S. users. It will be pretty straightforward to use, as it will provide you with a variety of themes and options to create a one-of-a-kind cover for your playlists. YouTube Music eventually plans to expand the feature to other regions and languages in the future

    In addition, YouTube Music will also be launching a new feature called “Speed dial,” which will make it easier to listen to your favorite songs and artists. It will appear on the Home tab as a section at the top which will show your most listened to music. Having this section will allow you to easily and quickly jump back into the songs you have on repeat.

    YouTube Music has also introduced many helpful features throughout the year. YouTube says that two billion people come to the platform every month to listen to their favorite music, so it’s a tall order to implement features that fit everyone’s tastes and needs.

    However, features that improve discovery of new music, personalization, and the sense of community, are always a welcome addition. Here’s hoping the generative AI playlist artwork feature rolls out quickly for everyone so we can all customize our music experience even further.

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  • Google makes a small change to the Android version of the YouTube app

    Google makes a small change to the Android version of the YouTube app

    Google likes to fool around with YouTube like a person who can’t stop scratching an itch. Unlike changes made to Google Maps that are helpful, some of the changes made to YouTube appear to be done for no real reason. Recently, the web version of the video stream moved from square corners to rounded corners on the thumbnails and the video player, and the feedback from YouTube users was not exactly favorable.

    Now it appears that YouTube is making the same change to videos on the YouTube Android app. The result is a more blinding white light in the background which might lead some users to turn on Dark theme. Open the YouTube app on Android and tap the profile picture in the upper right corner. Next, tap on Settings > General > Appearance. A popup box will ask you to choose from using the device theme, Light theme, or Dark theme. Make your choice.

    Since the rounded corners extend to the video player on the web and not just the thumbnails, we can assume that this will be the case for the Android app as well. Right now, the new look hasn’t been pushed out to many Android devices and it has yet to appear on my Pixel 6 Pro using Android 14 Beta 5.3.

    On the YouTube website, the rounded corners do not appear when you are watching a video in full screen or in Theater mode. But once you return to Default view, they do return. Now we don’t know exactly when Google plans to roll this out more widely to Android users and whether it will follow through by rounding the corners on the iOS YouTube app.

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  • YouTube Music rolls out redesigned Now Playing with comments section

    YouTube Music rolls out redesigned Now Playing with comments section

    Long gone are the days when we had to hunt for music through friends, exchange tapes, or enjoy our favorite songs solely at concerts or parties. Now, we can pick from numerous streaming services vying for our attention by bringing in fresh features. While YouTube Music isn’t exactly famous for having the most cutting-edge features compared to rival apps, it has been moving forward nicely by at last including long-promised live lyrics- and now releasing even more updates.

    YouTube Music is introducing the newest redesign of the Now Playing interface on both Android and iOS. This update includes a comments section and new buttons attached to the carousel. These buttons were previously hidden by default and needed users to tap on the artwork to access them.

    The new design makes YouTube Music look even more like the main YouTube app, with the comments section being a copy of what you see on the main YouTube app. The carousel now features buttons to Like, Dislike, view or add Comments, Save, Share, Download the track, or switch to its Radio. Before, only four of these choices appeared when you tapped the album art.

    For some time, YouTube Music might be the sole music streaming app with a live comments section until competitors catch up if they ever choose to. By enhancing the competitiveness of the YouTube Music app against its rivals, Google could be aiming to draw in more users.

    One of the advantages of YouTube Music is that if you already have a YouTube Premium subscription, you get access to Music Premium as well (which means no ads, offline and with your screen off streaming). Or in other words, you can save money by not subscribing to other music streaming services.

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  • YouTube now gives its creators a way to wipe content violation warnings from their channel

    YouTube now gives its creators a way to wipe content violation warnings from their channel

    In a surprising move this morning, YouTube published a change to the Community Guidelines that govern what content creators can and cannot do on the platform. Under this new rule, creators that —knowingly or unknowingly— violate any of these guidelines will now get a chance to right their wrong and lift the warning from their channel.
    The announcement was made via a video posted to the official YouTube Creators channel and the YouTube Official Blog which included detailed instructions on what to expect and what creators should do in case of a violation warning. Under these revised guidelines, creators who receive a warning for policy violations now have an intriguing option at their disposal — an educational training course.
    Here’s the great part: once the creator successfully completes the course, YouTube will remove the warning from their channel, just as long as they don’t violate the same policy for the next 90 days. It’s like a friendly handshake agreement to play by the rules. However, should the creator fail to follow through, the video in question will be removed and a strike will be applied to the channel.

    If the creator violates the same policy again, but after the 90 period, the video in question will be removed and the creator will be issued another warning. However – and surprisingly – another chance will be given to take another training course and once again wipe the warning from the channel.

    We believe this update will help the vast majority of creators who strive to produce content that complies with our Community Guidelines, and will help keep YouTube a safe and responsible platform for everyone.
    This change represents a significant shift in how YouTube deals with policy violations. In the past, YouTube would move to immediately remove the video in question and apply a lifetime warning to the channel. Now, it’s all about education and second chances.
    It is clear that monetization is a big motive for the policy change. Previously, policy warnings were more general and affected the entire channel, whereas with the new policy, warnings are more specific on what was breached. Giving creators a chance to fix warnings before they become strikes will allow for more content to stay up on YouTube and avoid the 3-strike rule that has been known to get channels terminated from the platform.
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  • YouTube deletes over 3,000 Vietnames videos

    YouTube deletes over 3,000 Vietnames videos

    YouTube has deleted over 3,000 videos about a cartoon character name Wolfoo due to alleged copyright violations even as the Vietnam-based producer Sconnect continues to deny all accusations.

    The videos, which had billions of views, were asked to be removed by U.K. company Entertainment One, which claimed that Wolfoo was based on its creation “Peppa Pig”, Sconnect said in a report to Vietnamese authorities at the end of July.

    Entertainment One reported the videos to YouTube in April, claiming that the scenes used in Wolfoo videos were copied from Peppa Pig.

    The company in July again reported the videos, claiming that the Wolfoo videos were also copying some of the audio and sound effects from Peppa.

    But Sconnect said that in both cases, Entertainment One and YouTube were not able to provide any clear evidence to show that copyright regulations were infringed.

    Sconnect said that the scenes and sounds mentioned are popular in everyday life.

    There is no legal ground for the claims, the studio argued, adding that its requests to YouTube since June have received no response even though the number of removed videos is increasing.

    Wolfoo Family, one of the YouTube channels that provides the videos, has lost around 2.4 billion views due the removed videos since May.

    Sconnect is now asking Vietnamese authorities to convince Google and YouTube to stop accepting copyright claims from Entertainment One.

    YouTube and Entertainment One have not commented on the issue.

    Sconnect, established in 2014, has 19 Wolfoo-related YouTube channels.

    “Wolfoo” is an English-language YouTube preschool animated web series about a young wolf and his anthropomorphic family.

    British preschool TV show “Peppa Pig” features an anthropomorphic piglet and her family. The show first aired in 2004.

    Entertainment One last year had sued Sconnect in Russian and British courts over intellectual property infringement, claiming Wolfoo is a “reworked” version of the Peppa Pig characters.

    Following an independent review, in July Russian experts rejected this claim and the Moscow City Court terminated Entertainment One’s suit against Sconnect.

    Entertainment One then immediately withdrew all claims.

    YouTube said earlier it never acts as an intermediary to resolve conflicts between two parties and only provides tools for users to protect themselves.

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  • YouTube announces quiz posts are coming to iOS and Android devices

    YouTube announces quiz posts are coming to iOS and Android devices

    After spending several months in beta, the option to create quiz posts in the Community tab is finally rolling out to everyone on Android, iOS and the web. YouTube confirmed earlier today that quiz posts are launching to all devices where Community posts are supported.

    This means that creators with access to the Community tab will now be able to create quizzes and viewers on Android and iOS devices can engage with them. Here is how you can add a quiz to your post:

    • Enter a question in the text field.
    • Enter answers in the “Answer” fields. Answers can be up to 80 characters each.
    • If you need more answer fields, tap Add answer. You can have up to 4 answers.
    • Select the correct answer. You can add an optional explanation for why this is the correct answer in the text field. Explanations can be 350 characters max.

    It’s important to mention that you can only have one correct answer on these quizzes, which makes perfect sense if you want to use these as educational tools.

    The announcement comes days after YouTube confirmed that it has started testing AI-generated quizzes on mobile. A small number of YouTube users are now part of an experiment that shows AI-generated quizzes on their Home feed. Of course, there’s no telling when these AI-generated quizzes will be made available for everyone nor if YouTube plans to really go ahead with this controversial feature.

     

  • YouTube could host mobile and desktop video games

    YouTube could host mobile and desktop video games

    YouTube is testing a product for playing online video games. YouTube’s plan to stretch beyond hosting video content and into sharing video games was the subject of an email sent to Google employees. The product already has a name, Playables, which will allow users to access games on mobile devices or desktop computers. The email invited Google employees to test the new gaming platform and the Journal did get a chance to view the email.

    One of the games mentioned is called Stack Bounce which is described as an arcade game that has players throwing a bouncing ball to smash layers of bricks. Users will be able to play the games instantly using the YouTube website, or via the YouTube mobile app for iOS and Android. Gamers already visit YouTube to watch live streams of video gaming competitions. YouTube competes with Amazon’s Twitch for viewers interested in watching others compete.

    By hosting games, YouTube would be getting into another aspect of the online gaming industry as the platform seeks to put a charge back into its lagging advertising revenue. Although the online gaming sector also has been struggling lately, a company spokesman said, “Gaming has long been a focus at YouTube. We’re always experimenting with new features, but have nothing to announce right now.”
    The Google Play Store does include mobile games available for Android users and developers who earn over $1 million a year must give Google up to a 30% cut of in-app transactions. It isn’t known how Google expects to profit from the new YouTube product. But even game developers are having a hard time making money in the post-pandemic world. And once-popular titles, such as Angry Birds, no longer generate the revenue stream that they once did.
    Last year Google announced that it was shutting down Stadia, a service that allowed users to stream games directly from the cloud to multiple devices. But the number of subscribers never took off and Stadia chief Phil Harrison saw the opportunity for YouTube to use Stadia’s technology to help the video streamer create a new revenue source.
    Some of the games being tested for YouTube are simple games that were popular a while back on services such as WeChat and Facebook. In other words, the games that YouTube might offer might not be the latest and greatest titles as Google leaves those for the Play Store and its 30% cut of in-app purchases. But these games might have a track record of being popular at one time making them interesting enough for online game players to still have an interest in playing them.
  • YouTube to launch first official shopping channel in South Korea

    YouTube to launch first official shopping channel in South Korea

    YouTube will launch its official shopping channel in South Korea for live commerce later this month for the first time in the world, people familiar with the matter said Wednesday.

    The new channel, set to open June 30, will provide a live commerce platform to companies and plans to livestream shopping content with about 30 brands at launch, according to the people.

    This is the first time YouTube is opening an official shopping channel in any country in the world.

    “YouTube is committed to building an engaging, informative and entertaining shopping experience for all users, including in Korea. To do this, we may experiment with a variety of YouTube Shopping features from time to time as we continue to work hard to optimize and deliver the best experience for our users,” a YouTube official told Yonhap News Agency, without providing details.

    Last year, YouTube rolled out a new shopping tab in its Explore section, allowing eligible creators to tag products in their livestreams or list products under their videos, and viewers to purchase those products.

    During Alphabet Inc.’s fourth quarter 2022 earnings call, Philipp Schindler, the chief business officer of the company, said Alphabet will focus on making YouTube more “shoppable,” as part of efforts to foster more creators, which will lead to more content and viewers, and ultimately more opportunities for advertisers.

    Alphabet is the parent company of Google and YouTube.

    “It’s still nascent, but we see lots of potential and making it easier for people to shop from the creators, brands and content they love,” Schindler said.

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